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Bangkok airport under siege

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A PAD activist blocks an entrance road with a barricade of trolleys. Posted here.

Almost
10,000 opposition protestors have set up camp in Bangkok airport, blocking all flights and confining
thousands of tourists to the world's biggest squat.

The crisis
in Bangkok is
worsening. For two years conflict has been heightening between supporters and
opponents of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, exiled since 2006. The
People's Alliance
for Democracy (PAD) demands the incarceration of the former head of government and
his deputies, who returned to power in December 2007, and of which one is
current Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. So far, one person has been killed in
the recent conflict.

The
director of Suvarnabhumi
International Airport
estimates 50 million baht (around €1.5m) of losses. The cancellation of 700
flights will have harsh effects on an economy based on tourism, and one which
is already flailing. Our Observers give their account of events.

Sirima is a
PAD activist. She's been involved in the protests since they began several
months ago. She's currently demonstrating at the airport.

"We came to
the airport yesterday, and we'll stay as long as we have to. It's depends on
what happens. We're not demanding that Parliament be dissolved; we just want
Thaksin Shinawatra and Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to go to jail. They're
murderers and corrupt. People are saying that we're firing shots, but it's not
true, it's a trick by the government to say that we're responsible for the
violence. We are non-violent protestors.

We
have no choice; attacking the airport is the only way to put pressure on. For us, it symbolises what they've
built. The airport is corrupt. It must go back to the Thai people, that's why we've
seized it. The only flight we let go was for the Haj Muslim pilgrimage, because
we sympathise with them for religious reasons.

The
unionists at the airport support us and the tourists too. Some are worried
about getting their home, but most are joining in with us. We eat together; we
share our food with them. Those from Europe, especially France, are used to protests, so
they're not phased by it."

"At the
start I sympathised with the movement but these things have their limits. The
PAD is attacking something essential to Thailand. That said, they can't
stay there forever. The head of the army, who sympathises with the PAD, has now
given an ultimatum to the protestors.

If the PAD
manages to get the parliament dissolved, I think they'll go. They don't want to
stay a week, like they did outside the government house.
The airport is too important for the country. And in any case their support is
diminishing. Taxi drivers for example are openly opposed to the blockade. The
airport is where they make most money. The PAD hasn't succeeded in getting the
population to rise up with them.

There has
been some violence. Particularly when the PAD left their encampments in the
town centre. The pro-government supporters took the chance to set off artisanal
bombs. They seem to have been individual acts. But it's true that it's the most
radical that carry on demonstrating, and there are a lot of firearms here. It
shouldn't turn into gang warfare.

It's not
all chaos. It's like the attacks in the suburbs: from abroad, you only have
access to some footage. But life goes on as normal here. I went to work this
morning, near the government house, without any problems."

Sunny is an IT programmer. He has been living in Bangkok for 20 years. He posted these photos of the airport on his blog.

Many
stranded passengers, having missed out on their in-flight entertainment, are
seen holding hand clappers and smiling as the PAD protesters distribute food
and snacks to them. They're even wearing the yellow Ku-chart head bands. Looks
like PAD's popularity at the airport is soaring!"